What does it mean to say the Bible is trustworthy?
God's written Word is our final authority for faith and life.
THE STARTING ANSWER
Scripture is breathed out by God and therefore truthful in all it affirms. Its authority comes from God, not from a church's permission or our ability to prove every detail. We receive it as the final authority, interpreting each passage in context and in the light of the whole Bible.
- 2 Timothy 3:16–17
- John 17:17
- John CalvinI.7.1–5
FOLLOW THE REASONING
From the claim to the conclusion.
The biblical writers speak as people carried along by the Holy Spirit.
- 2 Peter 1:20–21
God's truthfulness grounds our confidence in the Word he gives.
- Titus 1:2
- John 17:17
- R. C. SproulInspiration and God's truthfulness
The Spirit enables us to receive that Word; evidence is useful but is not a higher authority over God.
- 1 Corinthians 2:12–14
- John CalvinI.7.4–5
Careful inquiry and confidence in Scripture belong together. Our interpretations must answer to God's Word.
- Acts 17:11
- Westminster1.9–10
Name the question
Inspiration concerns God's giving Scripture. Copying, translating and interpreting concern how we encounter its words. A copyist's correction or a translator's choice does not, by itself, establish an error in the inspired text.
- Westminster1.8
- Codex Sinaiticus ProjectThe manuscript and its corrections
- R. C. SproulDivine inspiration and human fallibility
Read with accountable confidence
Read the surrounding paragraph and compare clearer passages on the same subject. Bring difficult questions into the open. Our inability to resolve a difficulty immediately does not entitle us to invent a solution or to make our uncertainty the measure of God's truthfulness.
- 2 Peter 3:15–16
- Westminster1.7–9
TAKE THE OBJECTION SERIOUSLY
Isn't an appeal to Scripture just circular?
Every ultimate authority raises a question about its own grounds. The Reformed answer is that God's Word carries divine authority and the Spirit bears witness to it. We can also discuss historical evidence, but human judgment does not create the authority it examines.
- John CalvinI.7.1–5
Inerrancy does not make every translation or every Christian interpretation infallible. We should be ready to correct our reading in submission to the text.
- R. C. SproulGod's speech and human fallibility
- Acts 17:11
CARRY IT INTO A CONVERSATION
Is your question about what this passage teaches, how its wording reached us, or why we receive it as God's Word?
- Acts 17:11
TAKE THE QUESTION FURTHER
Read a fuller argument.
- Institutes of the Christian Religion John Calvin
- Commenting and Commentaries Charles Haddon Spurgeon
- Systematic Theology Charles Hodge
IN THIS STUDY
OPEN THE SCRIPTURES
Scripture is God-breathed
The Spirit and the writers
Examining the Scriptures
GO TO THE SOURCE
Original study notes · Reformed perspective. Citations identify the basis of each explanation; they do not imply review or endorsement by the cited authors.
FOLLOW THE CONNECTIONS
This question opens another.
Has the Bible been changed beyond recognition?
Trust God's preservation and examine the actual manuscript witnesses.
Who decided which books belong in the Bible?
The church recognises God's Word; it does not give it authority.
What should we do with apparent Bible contradictions?
Trust the truthful God and read his Word carefully.
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